Alternate Concept for The Stakes Are Raised
by Gridmaster
Summary: What my evil mind can cook up when given free rein. Rating for intense situations and a little gore


# Alternate Concept   
"The Stakes are Raised"

Rachel tried to ignore the cramping in her midsection and kept working her way through the report. It was about time for her period; the cramps were a little worse than usual, but nothing a few extra-strength Motrin couldn't handle. She opened her desk drawer and shook a few small white pills from the large bottle contained therein. Usually, she reserved her ibuprofen supply for Max-related headaches, but the cramps were really starting to bother her.  
She rubbed her left hand across her stomach, hoping the drugs would kick in soon. A stronger cramp made her wince, forgetting about the report. _It's never been this bad before,_ she thought. She stood and felt a slow trickle down her right leg. _Damn. This is what emergency supplies are for._ She pulled a small cosmetic bag from the same drawer as the Motrin and headed for the lavatory. A cramp that felt like someone had reached inside and twisted her organs into a poodle brought her to her knees. Then she saw the blood, bright red, thin, and running much faster than a menstrual flow. _Oh god…  
_Rachel got back to her office, walking slowly, cramps hitting her every third step, each one worse than the last. She activated the comm panel on her desk. "This is Rachel Leeds. I need a medic, in my office…hurry!" She gasped the last word before collapsing, bringing her knees up to her chest, unmindful of the blood soaking the carpet.

A sensation of being lifted. Something firm beneath her back. Corridors rushing by. "She keeps losing blood."  
"Here comes another one, sir." Groaning, twisting agony.  
"Take her to ultrasound." Lifting again, her skirt, pantyhose being cut away. Rustling; a paper sheet draped over her lower body. Something cold and thick smeared on her; the technician's glove coming away glistening with blood. A strange sensation, cold, invasive.  
"Sir, you'd better take a look at this."  
"Oh my God…"  
Blessed darkness.

Rachel struggled awake from a dream of glowing green energy to find herself in a hospital bed, monitors on her chest under the blue-and-white gown. An IV was hooked to her left arm, slowly dripping fluids into her bloodstream. She turned her head; even that took effort, like she was suspended in oatmeal.  
"You're awake," a man in a long lab coat observed. "I'm Doctor Simms, Ms. Leeds. Do you feel up to answering a few questions?"  
Rachel opened her mouth; a hoarse, "Yes."  
"Ms. Leeds, were you aware that you were pregnant?"_  
Pregnant?_ She just started at the doctor, mouth open. "No," she finally whispered.  
"What you experienced in your office was a fairly violent, nearly successful miscarriage. We managed to save the embryo this time."_  
This time?_ Rachel's groggy mind whispered.  
"However, Ms. Leeds, I have to ask you this, and please, be honest. Do you know the father of your child?"  
Rachel nodded, the motion seeming to drain her of energy. "Yes…. Josh…Max."  
Doctor Simms nodded. "We're aware of Mr. McGrath's…enhancements. It appears your…liaison with him passed along more than just a child. Upon performing the ultrasound earlier, we discovered that the embryo contains the same nanotechnology as the father."_  
Same…the max probes?_  
"Your body sensed the nanotechs and identified them as foreign bodies. It tried to treat them as such; hence the cramping and bleeding you experienced earlier. We managed to stop the miscarriage with medications generally used for that purpose. Your IV contains medications commonly used with transplant patients to keep their bodies from rejecting the new organs.  
"However, Ms. Leeds, there was yet another complication. As you're well aware, the nanotechs require transphasik energy to survive. It appears that when they passed into you, they had a small store of energy. Under normal circumstances, it may have lasted longer than this. However, a growing embryo requires a great deal of energy. That's why the mother usually has an increased appetite. Only in this case, the ingestion of food is only one thing the embryo needs.  
"It also needs infusions of transphasik energy."_  
The glowing green energy in my dream…it wasn't a dream._  
"We managed to use the transphasik generator to infuse the embryo this time, but nearly lost you in the process. You may notice you feel weaker, sluggish."_  
No kidding._  
"While as an emergency measure, it was sufficient, I'm afraid with the rate the nanoteks will be draining their reserves, there is no way we can continually lower you into the generator. Growing is a draining process, Ms. Leeds. I'm afraid we must either find a way to infuse your embryo with transphasik energy, or we must terminate the pregnancy."  
Rachel's free hand moved as quickly as she could to cover her belly. "Find…a way," she groaned.  
The doctor nodded. "I had a feeling that would be your answer. Dr. Martinez is already working on a possible solution."_  
Leave it to Berto._ "Thank you."

Josh stretched as he left his history class. "Man, I swear those tests are getting harder. Half the stuff on there he never covered in class!" he complained to Pete.  
"Yes, he did. You were just either asleep or on a mission," Pete told him. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad."  
"Easy for you to say." Josh flipped his cell phone open to check his messages.  
"Anything interesting?" Pete asked as Josh stared, open-mouthed, at the message list.  
"Pete, buddy, how long was that test?"  
"About an hour, hour and a half. Why?"  
Josh turned the cell phone around so Pete could see the still-scrolling message list. "Because in sixty to ninety minutes, my father's left me one hundred and twenty messages."  
Pete whistled. "Must be important. Go save the world; I'll catch you for a pizza when you get back."  
Josh dialed his father's number at N-Tek. "Dad? What's going on? What's with all the messages?"  
"Get your butt down here pronto," Jeff growled. "We've got something of an emergency on our hands."  
"What? Dread? Psycho?"  
"This is an internal matter. Just get down here, asap." The line went dead.  
Josh stared at the dead phone, snapped it shut, and took off running towards the parking lot.

"Dad? Dad, what's wrong? Why was Berto giving me a really strange look when I came in?" Josh panted. He'd run up the several flights of stairs to Jeff's office, not even bothering to turn on his disguise function. "What's the emergency?"  
"Rachel's currently in medbay, recovering from an emergency procedure done this afternoon."  
"Rachel...emergency procedure…Dad, _what happened?_" Josh demanded.  
"It turns out," Jeff began, teeth set, "that Rachel is about three weeks' pregnant. While in her office, she started to suffer a violent miscarriage. If she hadn't reached her comm panel in time, she might have died."  
"Rachel…." Josh paled, sinking into the closest chair. "Is she okay? Can I see her?"  
"Not yet. There's more. It also turns out, that the reason her miscarriage was so violent, was because the baby…_has_ _max probes_," Jeff growled, turning to his son. "Do you have _any_ explanation, other than the obvious, as to _how_ she came to be carrying a probe-enhanced child?"  
"No." Josh raised his head to meet his father's glare.  
"Josh, I raised you better than this. I raised you to be careful!"  
"Dad! Dad, it's over. There's nothing we can do about it now. _Is Rachel okay?_"  
"She's fine. For now. Doctor Simms told me that the baby's probes were nearly drained; they had to use the generator to recharge it. She's going to be shaky for a few days, but once she steadies out, she should be okay. But, if she decides to continue with the pregnancy, they need to find a way to administer the transphasik energy to just the baby."  
"That's…." The full impact of what Jeff said sank in. "If she decides…?"  
"Doctor Simms informed me that Rachel had two choices: terminate the pregnancy now, or…"  
"I have to go." Josh was out of the room before Jeff finished.

Rachel heard the door open and forced her eyelids up. "Josh?" she managed.  
Josh stood in the doorway, afraid to come in further. Rachel looked so…different. His impressions of her had always been of strength, competence, self-sufficiency and ability. But now…the hospital bed seemed to dwarf her, the IV trailing from her arm looking like a thin, pale snake coming from a fragile arm. Monitor wires protruded from the neck of her hospital gown. The skin that showed was pale, translucent. She looked…breakable.  
"Hey, Rache," he said, trying not to look at the IV. "Dad called me. I would have been here sooner, but my phone was on mute; I had a history test…"  
"It's fine," she reassured him. "We're fine, now."  
"Rache…. Rachel, I'm so sorry." He sank into the empty chair by her bedside. "This is my fault…"  
A soft laugh surprised him. He looked up to see her eyes sparkling. "I seem to remember that I was the one doing the seducing. If you're passing around blame, I deserve my fair share. I didn't take this possibility into account." She grimaced. "Either possibility, actually."  
"But, you could have _died_ today, because of my probes."  
"But I didn't. And neither did our child."  
"Dad says you'll need treatments to keep the baby's probes healthy."  
She managed a nod. It was getting easier by the moment. "Berto's working on modifying a linear accelerator. It shouldn't be too hard."  
Josh swallowed. "Dad also said…he said the doctor gave you the option of terminating the pregnancy."  
"He did." Rachel moved her hand the inches she needed to cover Josh's. "It was never an option for me. This may be hard, but I'm willing to take the risks, the chances, whatever it takes to deliver a healthy child. _Our_ healthy child."  
"Rache…." Josh turned his hand over, catching Rachel's fingers between his. "Are you sure about this?"  
She squeezed his fingers. "I'm sure. We're going to be fine, Josh. All three of us."


End file.
